Kitchen
Are you ready?
Well, get ready!
If you're not afraid of color and not too timid to take a chance, we think this "Fabulous Fifties" kitchen may just blow your Bobbie Socks off!
With its crisp white cabinetry, gleaming retro appliances and color-matched glass-tile backsplash, this hip new kitchen makes a bold yet beautiful statement.
The sleek and stylish Northstar appliances from Elmira Stove Works are clearly the stars of the show, transforming a simply functional space into one that's quite a kick!
These appliances may look like vintage models—of course, that's the whole point—but they're actually brand spanking new and feature all the latest in modern convenience. More on this later.
But the other headliner in this showstopper kitchen has to be the large fireclay sink with its handy integral drainboard.
The Chicago deck-mount faucet with cross handles and quirky soap dish adds just the right touch.
And don't forget to look up—and down!
Overhead is a crazy, conical chrome-and-glass light fixture. And illuminating the apron-front sink, a coordinating pendant.
Both are antique reproductions from that most outstanding friend of period interiors, Rejuvenation Lighting in Portland, Oregon. We may well be their biggest fans!
And underfoot, to soften the candy color and return us gently to Mother Earth, a solid-oak hardwood floor with a warm, natural finish. Lovely!
But back to our retro appliances and a little discussion of an oft-visited puzzler from the annuls of new "old" house building.
When trying to capture an authentic period look, there's always an issue when it comes to the kitchen, specifically, how to create a vintage appearance while outfitting this most important and functional of rooms with modern appliances.
Problematic, to be sure, especially if the new "old" house at issue is a 1920s or 1930s design.
So what's the answer?
Why, retro appliances, of course!
Sounds straightforward enough, at least until you go shopping.
And when you do go shopping, you'll find that you have two, count 'em two, choices of style:
- Victorian, and
- Fifties.
That's right, folks.
Unhappily, and at least as of this writing, there's no Roaring Twenties range nor Flapper Era fridge out there at the appliance mall, just waiting to complete your proper period kitchen. Sorry!
So what to do? Only one choice here—get creative!
Rather than fight a losing battle, we decided to switch sides instead (not the noblest act) and make the situation work for us.
And how did we do that?
Easy. We just rewrote the "history" of our 1920s house so that a 1950s kitchen would make perfect sense!
As our rewritten story goes in this new "old" house fantasy, our little 1920s Tudor Revival cottage simply got a grand kitchen makeover back in the 1950s.
That's right. When her owners at the time tired of her outdated kitchen and then got a windfall from the factory that year (man, this lying business can quickly get out of hand!), they simply decided to invest it all in a brand new modern kitchen.
Yeah, that's the ticket!
Oh, it's good to tidy up a logical inconsistency!
But finally, back to reality.
We end this tour with a couple of pictures that should give you a sense of the well-thought-out detail evident in this most spectacular of kitchens.
Notice the drawer pulls and the cabinet-door knobs.
It's no coincidence that the mint-green color you see on this hardware exactly matches the mint-green color of the Northstar appliances. (At this point, did you expect anything less?)
How can it get any sweeter than this?
